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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711957">Short Story Collection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Pistachio/pseuds/Queen_Pistachio'>Queen_Pistachio</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>not a fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:49:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Pistachio/pseuds/Queen_Pistachio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>These are a collection of short stories that I've written myself and are completely fictional.</p>
<p>Warning: incredibly disturbing sometimes</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Little Did He Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Words: 1491</p>
<p>Her eyes shone with the light of the moon as she gazed among the stars. Her smile shone even brighter when she smiled at them. White teeth showing when her lips parted in an upwards turn, foggy breath visible in the cool winter air. They didn't know why they had decided to come to the top of the highest hill in the area, but here they were anyway, staring at the golden dots littering the night sky. He was in his coat and boots, with hands in his pockets. She wore her coat as well, but with a silver-coloured hat with white fur trimmings nestled on her head. Matching mittens hugged her delicate hands. He watched as she spun around, searching for each constellation she could find in the dark sky. Having nearly memorized the whole northern hemisphere, her search went by smoothly. The children didn't tell anyone where they went; She insisted it be their little secret.</p>
<p>"Alex!" she called. "Take a picture of me!" She began to pose for the camera in the snowfall. She stood with her head up high and arms in the air, an ever-present smile plastered on her face. With a flash and a snap of her parents' old camera, the one that she adored so much, he captured the moment, and it was beautiful. <em>She</em> was beautiful.</p>
<p>It hardly needed to be spoken, but he was in love. In love with the way that her smile was always so genuine. In love with the way she looked at the stars. In love with the way her eyes glimmered when she was happy. In love with the way that she liked him, too. She looked back at him and smiled even wider than before, her grin stretching across her face. She seemed so happy.</p>
<p>He walked over to where she stood and handed her back her camera. Then grasped her free hand in his.</p>
<p>"This place is magical," he stated as they began to ascend to the very top of the tree-covered hill, their fingers interlocking.</p>
<p>"Isn't it?" her voice sang. "My mother and father used to take me here before they—you know."</p>
<p>"Do you miss them, Maria?" he asked after a moment's silence.</p>
<p>"Sometimes," Maria replied happily.</p>
<p>He frowned, but her smiling expression didn't waver at all. He knew what had happened to her mother and father; everyone did. They went missing about three or four years ago, and are presumed dead. The bodies were never found. The case stumped police precincts all over the city. No one could figure it out no matter how hard the tried. Maria's curious optimism never ceases to surprise him. She seemed carefree about the subject of her parents' death.</p>
<p>Alex sensed some movement to his right and turned to look at the disturbance. When he did so, he caught a quick glimpse of what looked to be a retreating deer.</p>
<p>"Let's go this way," he said, turning to follow where the woodland creature went. He took a few steps before he was met with a resistant tug on his arm. He turned to find Maria standing still in the snow.</p>
<p>"I think this way would be better," she said, turning on her heel and starting off in the opposite direction. As much as he wanted to follow after the deer, Alex went along with Maria.</p>
<p>They walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence before Maria spoke up.</p>
<p>"Come with me," she said suddenly, rushing off quickly down the snow-covered trail. He stumbled a bit as he was pulled along by her strong grip on his hand but managed to catch up to her pace. He had no idea where they were going, but he trusted that she did. He didn't think to question it.</p>
<p>They sped along for what felt like forever to Alex but was, in fact, only three minutes at most. They reached a wall of trees and stopped, though their hands continued holding on to each other. Alex looked at Maria with questioning eyes, but she only smirked and walked forward. He watched as she drew back one of the branches of the nearest tree and revealed to him a small, narrow pathway leading further into the woods.</p>
<p>"Well, come on then," Maria smiled, gesturing into the pathway. He hesitated, only for a second, before walking forwards and into the trees. She followed after a second, and he swore he saw a flash of some kind come from behind him but continued walking anyway. The path led them into a small opening in the trees; it was about the size of a large soccer field, but more rounded. He looked around when they entered through the trees. It was amazing.</p>
<p>"Wow," he breathed, "this place is amazing."</p>
<p>She giggled, "I know, right."</p>
<p>He noticed that on one end of the circle there was an opening, and he walked towards it. Looking back at Maria he asked, "How did you ever find this place? It's so hidden." Maria's smile faltered briefly before replying with a far off look in her eyes. "I came here with my parents."</p>
<p>The opening in the circle turned out to be a cliff, at least 40 feet in height, he guessed. He wondered why the cliff wasn't blocked off. Someone could fall and hurt themselves. He couldn't even see the bottom it was so dark.</p>
<p>"Can I take some pictures of you?" Maria asked, her face looking serious for the first time this trip. "I like to document my trips to this place with whomever I'm here with. I have a collection."</p>
<p>Alex smiled a clueless smile.</p>
<p>"Of course!" he said happily.</p>
<p>Maria backed up a few feet as Alex stood by the cliff, careful not to stand too close.</p>
<p>"How many people are in your collection?" he asked while Maria adjusted her position. "Six, I think," she replied.</p>
<p>"How often did your parents bring you here?" he asked, slightly jealous that others had been brought here before him. Maria smirked.</p>
<p>"Only once."</p>
<p>She raised up the camera and <em>snapped</em> a photo, the flash blinding Alex for a moment in the dark.</p>
<p>"But they love it when I come here nowadays."</p>
<p>Alex changed positions, this time holding his arms out to the side and spreading his legs to create a sort of star shape with his body. His face, however, conveyed a large amount of confusion. How would Maria's parents know she comes here?</p>
<p>"It was the last place they ever explored before they passed." <em>Snap</em>.</p>
<p>Alex tilted his head and raised his arms as she took another photo. <em>Snap</em>.</p>
<p>"How do you know that?" he put his hands on his hips.</p>
<p>"I was with them." was the reply. <em>Snap</em>. He dropped his hands. There was a minute of silence before Alex spoke.</p>
<p>"I thought you were out of town. Isn't that what the police report said?" He didn't mean to pry so much, he really didn't.</p>
<p>"Yes, it did," she affirmed. <em>Snap</em>. Alex stopped posing and narrowed his eyes.</p>
<p>"So you—lied to the police?" he whispered. Maria looked up from her camera. Her happy expression had been replaced with a cold, emotionless one. She looked distant.</p>
<p>"Well, yes." She took another photo while maintaining eye contact with Alex. <em>Snap</em>.</p>
<p>"Why?" Alex asked with an uneasy feeling forming in his gut. Maria sighed.</p>
<p>"Some people simply can't handle the truth," she responded with sorrow in her voice. She took one last photo, "and I would've gotten into trouble."</p>
<p>She started walking towards the boy with an expressionless face and dull eyes. He could feel his heart pounding as the love of his life walked towards him. She was looking through all the photos she took of him that day on her camera, some of them taken without his knowledge.</p>
<p>She held the camera in one hand and reached the other one up to cup Alex's cheek gently. Alex would have been swooning over this small gesture if he wasn't so worried. He had a horrible feeling about the vicious expression that Maria's face now held. Her eyes had no shine, and her smile looked vile and corrupt. She giggled, but instead of it sounding cute and adorable it sounded more like a witch's cackle.</p>
<p>"What," Alex breathed, not completely sure he actually wanted to know, "what's the truth?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Take a guess," Maria said as she grabbed him by the front of his winter coat. She pulled him towards her, planting her lips onto his, and then pushed him back as hard as she could. He fell. She had pushed him off and down the cliff without so much as a thought. The last thing Alex ever saw was the flash of her camera from the top of the cliff, capturing his fear as he descended down.</p>
<p>The last thing he heard was the crack of his bones hitting against someone else's<em>.</em></p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Gasoline</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alex, upset at her crush and ex-best friend Nadia for "betraying her", decides to enact revenge in the most gruesome way she could think of.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Words: 3280</p><p>I drag the body of an unconscious girl through the hall. I don't know who she is, nor do I care. All I know is she's interrupting some very important business and should have taken her ginger-haired self home sooner. But she didn't, and I met up with her on the first floor by her locker. Which is the most annoying thing ever as I need her to be on the third floor. The exchange was brief between us. She asked me if I knew why there was a smelly, gasoline-like substance everywhere, I told her it was gasoline, she asked me why, and I hit her over the head with my baseball bat. One blow was all it took.</p><p>And now, here I am, dragging her thin body up the stairs. The elevator isn't working, either. I had to grab her by her ankles, one in each hand, and walk up the stairs like I'm carrying a wheelbarrow the wrong way. The stairwell is silent, save for the girl's pretty little head smacking off every step, but it's nice. It hasn't been this quiet in the school since, well, never, I imagine. Even when no one's here, the building is always creaking and groaning. The girl and I reach the top of the first set of stairs with a huff from me trying to catch my breath. There's no way the girl will wake up now, with the back of her head beginning to look like the moon. I look down the stairs to see spots of thick red here and there. Guess her skull's been cracked.</p><p>Taking one final deep breath, I start heading up the second set of stairs to the third floor. Hearing the continuous smack, smack, smack of the redhead's cranium. Her glasses have somehow stayed on her face this whole time, though they're crooked now. They're not nearly as attractive that way, but what can I do? Fix them in the middle of my stairwell journey? I reach the top of the stairs with yet another huff, reminding me aggressively that I need to get in better shape. I open the door to the third floor and drag the girl through it as best I can. The stupid school door won't stay open and I'm stuck having to use my body weight to do it. Eventually, I make it through, picking up the girl's ankles again and dragging her down the third-floor hallway. Passed the math and science rooms, past the computer lab, and to the drama room. Using the key I stole, attached to the lanyard which I also stole, I unlock the door and open it, and see my prize still laying unconscious. That's good, I think, I won't have to deal with her again yet. I put the lanyard around my neck.</p><p>The "prize", so to speak, is lying in the corner of the room on her side with her arms bound together tightly. Her fancy blonde hair is covering her face, but the rest of her perfect body is completely visible. The red lines that litter the expanse of her skin look more irritated than the last time I was up here which was only about 15 minutes ago. The blue and purple bruises are vibrant from where they stain her arms and legs. So vibrant, in fact, that they seem to put me in a trance whenever I see them. Deciding it's better to focus on the task at hand, I pull the redhead's body inside the room and close the door. I drag her over to the teacher's desk and grab some rope off of it, tying her hands together then tying those hands to the desk's leg. I know she won't wake up any time soon, but better safe than sorry, right?</p><p>With glasses girl officially dealt with I make my way to the other side of the room to see my precious blondy. I bend down beside her body, making sure not to let my clothes touch the floor, and admire her pretty bruises. They look even deeper up close, and I will forever relish in the fact that I was the one who put them there this morning as I tried to get her into my car. As for the cuts and scratches, I haven't yet asked. I know that I didn't do them, and that's all I care about. Realizing it's been so long since I've been able to touch her, I put my hand on her waist and down to her back, rubbing circles into it as smoothly a I can. Her crop top covered in the blood she bled from her nose this morning, and I know that no amount of bleach and water can fully clean it out. It's fine, though. Nothing a little fire can't fix. </p><p>Without realizing it I begin humming her favourite song. I brush her hair out of her face gently with my other hand, and the whole reason she's in this position in the first place comes flooding back into my head all at once. It practically gives me whiplash, the force of the memories, and I fall back onto the floor. Luckily for me, the spot I land in isn't spilled over with gasoline like the majority of the room. I Stand up with fury, clenching my fists. With my fall, I accidentally pushed her, and she went from lying on her side to her back. I lift my foot over her body and stomp down, directly on her stomach. She deserves it, I remind myself, trying not to cry.</p><p>I turn to leave the room when the redhead catches my eye. Her glasses are still askew on her face, so I quickly lean down to fix them. Wow, she's pretty. It's a shame she had to still be in the school when she was. Maybe I could've befriended her.</p><p>Pushing those thoughts aside, I turn again to leave for real, leaving the door unlocked behind me this time. I take the stairs back down to where I first found the redhead, by her locker across from the English room. There, on the fuel-covered floor, was my baseball bat. It was sure to be slippery now, but it was either I leave that or the girl. One was less of a risk than the other, so the bat was voted to stay for the time being. I pick the bat up and try to shake some of the gross smelling liquid off of it, when I hear a shout.</p><p>"What the hell?" someone shouted from the end of the hall. Oh shit. The night janitor. I look at my watch, and sure enough, it's almost 7:00. I knew I should've waited until the weekend to do this, damn my cursed impatience. I walk back towards the stairwell, ducking into it just as Mr Night Janitor turned the corner at the end of the hall, mop in hand.</p><p>"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," I whisper, trying to desperately figure out how to get out of this one. I don't want to have to harm Mr Night Janitor, as he's pretty nice, but I'm not sure how else to do this. Besides, he'd be impossible to drag up the stairs by myself.</p><p>"How the hell did this happen? What even is this?" I hear him say. "Gasoline?" I can tell he's closer to the stairwell doors now, and I run up the stairs as fast as I possibly can. Unfortunately, being fast also means being loud.</p><p>"Hello? Someone there?" the janitor shouts in response to my thumping. He opens the door to the stairwell just as I enter the third floor. Deciding that there's only one thing I can do to fix this, I scream. A blood-curdling scream, one that shouts "help me!" from the treetops, and within two seconds of screaming I hear his footsteps climbing the stairs. I run down to the drama room and open the door, about to go in, before going into the computer lab across the hall instead. I lock the door behind me, knowing every other door in the hall was also locked, and screamed again.</p><p>"Hello?" the janitor yelled.</p><p>"Help me, please!" I shouted back, adding a fake sob in there to really sell my need for help. I heard Mr Night Janitor's feet thumping on the vinyl flooring and splashing in the random pools of gasoline splashed around lazily, and looked through the window of the computer lab door. He was doing exactly as I hoped he would, he's walking right into the drama room. I unlock and open my door as quietly as possible, before walking over to the drama room door, bat in hand.</p><p>"What the hell?" I hear him saying. I look into the room to see my prize fully awake, and Mr Night Janitor starting to untie her. I walk up to a couple feet behind him.</p><p>"Hey!" I shout, startling him into turning around and standing up. As soon as he does I strike him with the bat as hard as I can, right in the head. It doesn't put him to sleep, though, so as he's on the floor cradling his head in his hands, I hit him again. And again. And again. I hit him until he stops moving. Only then can I be sure.</p><p>I look down at the lifeless corpse of Mr Night Janitor and sigh, then I direct my attention towards blondy.</p><p>"Hey, princess. Awake so soon?" I taunt. Her face is red and wet with tears as she lets out a sob.</p><p>"This needs to stop," she says, squirming in her makeshift rope cuffs. I kneel down and grab her wrists forcefully, re-tying whatever part of the knot Mr Night Janitor managed to get undone.</p><p>"Whatever you're going through, we can work through it together." She says. I laugh at that, finishing the knot and standing up.</p><p>"No," I say, grabbing her fresh hand binds and yanking her to her feet. "What needs to stop is this thing where you think you've ever been my friend." I drag her by her hands to the middle of the room, directly underneath a ceiling fan, which is underneath a sort of hidden pipe I discovered last week. I let her go and grab a chair from the edge of the room, then place it beside her.</p><p>"Listen, whatever it is, it isn't true!" she says as I grab the excess rope from her hand binds and climb onto the chair.</p><p>"Isn't it?" I reply, wrapping the rope around the pipe and pulling on it so her hands are forced into the air.</p><p>"Ah!" she yelps as I yank on the rope again. She has to rest on her tiptoes, now.</p><p>"Listen," she says. I yank on the rope once more with all my might, and successfully bring her off of the floor. It isn't by much, though. I carefully wrap the rope around the pipe a few more times to make sure it's secure, then I wrap it around the ceiling fan's downrod twice and finish by tying it around the pipe one last time. "Listen, please."</p><p>"I'm listening," I reply, stepping off of the chair and kicking it away,</p><p>"Look into my eyes," she says. I do. Those bright, violently blue eyes. I could drown in them. "Can't you feel it? The love that's still there for you?" she says. I laugh a real, hearty laugh at her sorry attempt for redemption.</p><p>"The only thing I feel," I say, reaching into my sweater pocket, "is the guilty betrayal written all over your face." I take out a small pocket knife from my pocket and jab it into her stomach. Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to hurt. And bleed. I'm more excited about the latter. She yelled out with the stab, a shrill sort of scream that rang in my ears.</p><p> I remove the knife and grip it tightly in my hand. I watch as her blood seeps out of the wound and down her naval. It soaks into her shorts, so I take the knife and cut through the pant leg from top to bottom, then push it aside. The blood, now without obstacles, flows down her thighs, her legs, her ankles, and then drips one drop at a time off her bare feet and to the floor.</p><p>"It's obvious what you actually think of me," I say to her, poking at her stomach with my finger."I've figured out how things like this work." I poke her again.</p><p>"What are you, what are you talking about?" she gasps. I poke her again, loving the way she squirms.</p><p>"I'm a nuisance," I say, "I'm an annoying little gremlin. You never actually liked me, I know, I read you're texts to Morgan."</p><p>I leave her side and walk to the window sill, where my backpack lays perfectly dry and gasoline-free. I open it.</p><p>"Morgan?" she asks. I nod and pull a wad of papers out of the bag.</p><p>"Mhm. Here, see?" I hold up the papers and her eyes widen, understandably so. I lay them out onto the floor in front of her. Months and moths of screenshotted text messages, every one of them about me.</p><p>"What's Morgan got that I don't?" I ask, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I don't stop them. "What's he have that I couldn't give you?" my voice is soft and wavering, but I don't care.</p><p>"I, I don't-"</p><p>"I gave you everything, Nadia. And all you gave me was a broken heart." I turn away from her and wipe my eyes. There's no use weeping yet.</p><p>"Alex, please," Nadia sobs. I turn around and slap her.</p><p>"Don't you dare call me that. Soon, Alex won't even exist anymore." I look down to the pool of blood beneath her feet and smile. I kneel beside it. "Soon," I repeat.</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Nadia sobs again. "Please don't hurt me."</p><p>"Don't worry, sweetheart, it's not me you should be scared of," I say as I stick my finger into the blood and begin to draw on the floor with it. The design was quite simple, yet I spent two months memorizing it from a special little book I found in the attic.</p><p>"What are you doing?" she asks. I don't answer, instead opting to hum her favourite song again. "Alex? What are you doing?" God, she's annoying. I can't believe I ever liked her like that. Done with my drawing, I stand up and take a step back.</p><p>"Soon," I repeat for a third time, "It'll be just 'Lilith'. No more Alex.". Nadia looks down to my drawing and starts sobbing again.</p><p>"What, What kind of demonic symbol is, is that?" she asks in a frantic state. I take my sweater off and throw it into the middle of the symbol. It was covered in gasoline, so I wouldn't need it anymore.</p><p>"That, my dear, is my ticket to freedom." I look back into her eyes and grab her sides, giving her body a little shake. "You, are my ticket to freedom." I can feel myself smiling as I shake her again.</p><p>I laugh at the terrified look on her face as I walk over to my backpack and grab out the previously mentioned 'special little book'. The book, wrapped in leather binding, brandished a golden pentagram on the front cover. It was found in a box of my uncle's old things, hiding in the attic. I open it up for one final glance at the perfect pages, special illustrations, and very specific words of writing it holds. I stop at a specific page, page 32 to be exact, and smile again. The page shows the illustration of a human strung up by their hands, with a demonic, pentagram-like symbol beneath their elevated feet. Much like the symbol resting beneath Nadia's feet right now. I don't believe it means anything particular, I don't believe the book means anything at all, but it's fun to let Nadia think so. It's fun to make her even more scared than she already is. It's fun watching her tug on her hand binds, thinking she's being sacrificed or some shit.</p><p>I laugh and toss the book on top of my old sweater, then grab my backpack and put it on. I go to leave the room when Nadia yells.</p><p>"Wait! Where are you going?" She shouts in panic.</p><p>"My time here is done, Nadia," I reply, running my hand through my hair exhaustively. It's getting long, I realize. Maybe I should cut it. It is going past my chin, after all. The side needs to be shaved again, too.</p><p>"You're just going to leave me here?" Nadia yells, breaking me out of my weird trance. I look to the floor and smile, letting a small laugh escape my lips.</p><p>"Now that I'm leaving you want me, huh?" I say coldly. "What happened to the whole 'I don't swing that way' speech of yours?" I turn to face her again, walking towards her. I can feel my anger toward her boiling up again, ready to explode.</p><p>"I was okay when you said you just wanted to be friends," I say, "I was okay when you said you're not into girls," I reminded, "but I can't believe you'd ignore me for a fuck boy like Morgan Dowwy of all people," I shout. Nadia looked down to the floor, refusing to make eye contact. Morgan Dowwy, the boy who'd make my life miserable since the fourth grade.</p><p>"You humiliated me in front of the school, you did nothing when Morgan and his goons ripped apart my art project, and worst of all, you tricked me into believing we were friends." I count her sins on my fingers as I speak.</p><p>"I-" Nadia starts. I don't let her finish. I walk up to her as fast as possible, grab her face with both hands, and pull her lips to mine. I let her go as fast as I'd grabbed her and walked out of the room even faster.</p><p>"Alex!" She screams. I ignore her as the smell of gasoline fills my nose. I pretend I can't hear her screams of my name as I make my way through the stinking hallways. Once on the first floor, I grab a nearby gasoline canister and open it. As I get to the front entrance hallway I turn the canister upside down, and fling it around a little, letting the gasoline slosh out of the canister and onto the floor, walls, and ceiling, but careful not to get any of me. At the exit I take off my gasoline-soaked shoes and socks, laying them down before the door. I exit the school and dump the rest of the gasoline out in front of the entrance doors. I pull a match out of my pocket, striking it on the brick wall of the school, and take a second to admire the building while it stands. Whatever, I think. I hate this place anyway.</p><p>I turn and throw the beautiful flame behind my shoulder, landing it perfectly on the gasoline I just dumped. In a matter of seconds, the school went up into flames, black smoke filling the sky. I don't look back, I just keep walking. Though I'm sure I can hear calls of my name, I ignore them.</p><p>"Alexandra!!" someone calls.</p><p>I can't hear them.</p><p>"Alexandra!" someone screams.</p><p>Then it's silent, and the only sound is the roaring of the fire.</p><p>And everyone knows that fire is the devil's only friend.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Nightmare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A boy wakes up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling in his gut. That feeling only turns stranger when he goes to take some Advil and meets a creature from someone's nightmares.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He woke up at3:33 AM exactly, at least that's what the alarm clock on his bedside table told him. He rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, wondering why the hell he was up this early, and why the hell he had a horrible uneasy feeling welling inside of him. He put his head back down on his pillow and wished wholeheartedly for sleep to overcome his again, but to no avail. He tossed and turned, throwing his blanket off and then back on. He tried changing into a lighter pair of pyjamas and took off his socks, but that didn't work either. The feeling was still there, kind of haunting him in a way he couldn't quite explain.</p><p>He sat up and threw the covers off himself once more, before swinging his legs over the side of his bed and standing up. He walked over to the window closest to him and looked out; it was dark, obviously. But with the darkness came a new level of ominous that he didn't think should be there. The streetlights were dimmed down way more than usual, and the moon was barely visible behind the dark clouds in the sky. He shivered, but he didn't feel cold. Maybe he developed a fever?</p><p>He made his way over tohis bedroom door, an unusual hesitancy clouded his mind as he reached for the door handle. He ignored it and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway. His bare feet felt cool on the wooden floor, though he was sure he turned the floor heaters on before he went to bed. He walked down the hallway slowly. He couldn't explain it, but it felt as though he wasn't alone. It was silly, of course. His parents were dead asleep in their bedroom, and his baby sister was staying with his aunt for the week. Of course, he was alone.</p><p>As he made his way to the bathroom down the hall he looked at the family pictures and portraits on the walls. He stopped walking completely when he saw a family portrait taken only a month ago; he was missing from it. There were his dads, standing behind a chair. One had his arm around the other, and the other had his arm resting on the chair. His baby sister was sitting in the chair all by herself, instead of on the lap of her brother. Was this a prank? He didn't think it was April Fools day.</p><p>Shrugging this whole weird experience off he continued to make his way to the bathroom at the end of the hall. Once there he opened the door and walked through, ignoring the blatant squeak the old wooden door made. He went up to the medicine cabinet and opened it, taking out a thermometer and putting it into his mouth. And under his tongue. He looked into the medicine cabinet and decided he might as well take an Advil, just in case. Popping the cap off the Advil, he poured one tablet out into his hand. He put some water into the cup beside the sink leftover from rinsing his mouth the previous morning. He took the thermometer out of his mouth and looked at it.36.5 Celsius, not a fever. He put the thermometer on the side of the sink and put the Advil back in the cabinet. Then he put some water in his mouth, followed by the Advil tablet, and swallowed. Deciding that it'd be a good idea to just go back to bed, he grabbed the cabinet door and closed it.</p><p>He paused quickly when he saw the mirror on the other side of the cabinet door, gasping loudly at the sight of a creature standing behind him. He turned around as quickly as possible to find himself completely alone in the bathroom still. He looked back to the mirror to find that empty, too. Except for himself, that is. He began to breathe rapidly as he tried to decipher what just happened. Maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe he was developing early-onset schizophrenia or something, that could explain it. He'd have to mention something to his dads in the morning.</p><p>His new-found self-diagnosis calmed his breathing down enough to get his bearings and go out of the bathroom. He was walking past his parents' room when something caught his eye. It was the picture from before, but he wasn't missing anymore. Instead, his baby sister was missing. And so were his dads. He was the only one there, sitting alone in the chair in the middle of the photo. As he looked at the photo it began to change. His eyes in the photo began to turn blacker than the dark sky outside, and his smile became creepy and contorted. Freaked out, he backed up to the opposite wall of the hallway. But no matter what he tried, he couldn't look away. The more he stared, the more distorted the picture became. Portrait-him snapped his head to the side and his mouth began dripping a gross, black substance. It wasn't just dripping in the photo, though. The picture frame began to leak black liquid out of where his mouth is. It dripped down the frame in bulks, spewing out like the creature inside was vomiting.</p><p>It dripped down and onto the floor, where it began to slide along the floor toward the boy cowering on the opposite wall. He stared down at the floor where the black goop was coming towards him and tried to run, only to realize that he was stuck in place. He began hyperventilating again, and he could hear his heartbeat screaming in ears. The liquid gradually started dripping and moving faster, and the mouth of the creature in the picture opened wider to allow more to come out quicker. Just before it reached the boy's foot, the liquid stopped moving towards him. It instead began to build itself up, moving even more rapidly than before. It climbed up upon itself until a giant blob of black, gooey liquid stood three feet above the boy's head. The boy recognized the thing as the creature he saw in the mirror only moments ago as it developed a face and took form properly. Finally finding his voice, the boy screamed as loud as he could as the monster opened what he could only assume was its mouth, and everything went black.</p><p>He woke up in a cold sweat, sitting up quickly and shaking from head to toe as he gasped for air. He put his head in his hands and began to hyperventilate and cry in a state of shock. He put his hands over his ears as if to block the creature out of his head as he shook and cried.</p><p>"What?" he whispered to himself as he began to calm down. He placed his hand on his wrist and felt his pulse still going wild. He took some deep breaths as he began to realize that it was just a nightmare. He was okay. He looked over to his clock to see what time it was, knowing he probably won't be able to sleep after that. It was3:33 AM. He put his head onto his pillow and closed his eyes, pulling the covers over himself as much as possible as if to "will away" any more nightmares.</p><p> </p><p> And as he somehow drifted into a lovely little sleep, he failed to notice the gooey black liquid seeping under his bedroom door.</p>
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